The Hospitaller Grand Master, the Convent and the General Chapter

Power and consensus in the late Middle Ages

Absztrakt

The study examines the changing balance in the leadership of a military-religious order: the Hospitallers’ general chapter, its role of counterbalancing the power of the Grand Master, and the transformation of this decision-making body in the late Middle Ages. By the fifteenth century two important changes had been introduced. From the middle of the century, convening the general chapter was included in the regulations of the Order, moreover, these meetings became grounds of the constant political conflicts within the Order. The influence of certain tongues (linguae) changed significantly over time, and the new power balance was represented at these meetings. In this new “context”, the “affiliation” of the Hungarian–Slavonian priory can also be reassessed.